dragonballgtz

Not what we were wanting to hear, unfortunately. From George Malik (link), in regards to Helm's likelihood of playing:

 

He's not even practicing, so highly unlikely, I'd say.

Doubtful. When he was injured they said he was done for the playoffs. Don't think anything has changed.

You always wonder which "Wings" will show up.  I hope these Wings are just the warm-up act and the real  Wings are still in the locker room taping their sticks.  I also hope those Wings show up really soon.

In this market, I think its going to take an uncomfortable amount of term to get Semin at $5m/season. In which case, I would be very... annoyed. How many half-time scorers can you have signed for 8+ years?

f*** you Ken Holland, seriously f*** you

.........................................................................yay. Logo Hunter is back.

Just consider this:

Dan Cleary is aging and has a 2.8mill contract with one season left on it. Would it be valuable to sell him now while we can get decent assets for him rather than lose him in free agency next season? If we are re-signing our youth and blowing money on UFAs this season we could use the 2.8 mill elsewhere rather than the 4th line. Furthermore, Eaves has a hefty 1.2mill contract and if he doesn't play every night he isn't worth keeping around when we could get a decent pick for him.  Bertuzzi we are almost stuck with unless waived because he has a NMC i believe. Obviously Emmerton and Mursak are less valuable than these guys but that makes them ideal 13/14 guys that come cheap and know our system, I'd move a bigger contract to make room for future.

if it was up to me cleary and/or bertuzzi wouldnt be back and replaced with guys like prust ,doan etc..

unfortunetly ken holland is overly loyal ... bertuzzi never should of been resigned to 2 yrs especially now that hes 37

Some people here are seriously undervaluing Parise. The guy's a stud, a workhorse. Semin is one of the laziest players I have ever seen, and Brunner - Brunner? Seriously?

As for the topic at hand - I don't see the Pens getting either of them, honestly. But I've been wrong before....

The linesmen have decided to join in on the horrible officiating.

Not a knee-on-knee hit. Violent? Yes. Penalty? No.

Typical Franzen. Notice the cross check he performs before the love tap (spear). I don't feel sorry for him as he brings it on himself. Players don't respect guys who start sh.. and won't back it up or feign injury. Then one wonders why he gets his nose crumbled like a cheap cookie? Good for Kalinin. Franzen is a joke.

Maybe he'll get his work ethic knocked back into him.

So instead of pointing this out in the media after they were dropped in the 1st round why didn't he try to change this by his play on the ice?

Nobody other than three players on the Red Wings roster did.  He was asked a question, and mentioned what he noticed of the team, himself included.

You guys make it seem like he went to the media and started to cite reasons why he specifically played poorly.  He knows he didn't play up to par.  Everyone knows that.  The team played terrible.  Everyone knows that.

People just want to read what they want to read and use it to knock down or prop up players they like or dislike.  It's nothing new.

Closer to 40 than 25-30 is what I said. And no, closer to 40 than 25-30 for a guy getting paid $5.25 million/season, averaging $3.9 million over the length of 11 seasons. The point of a front loaded contract is to lessen the cap, but that doesn't mean he is expected to only perform his cap hit, otherwise what happens when he declines like he has already been trending to do? If he is worth $3.9 when he is making $5.25, what happens in 2-3 seasons? or 5? or 8?

Franzen isn't exactly a burden on our cap (in fact we may have an extra couple million or so that could sign a Parise or Suter this offseason based on the cap decrease), so I'm not sure why people are getting grumpy.  Nothing stopped Detroit from signing a dynamic scorer other than the market last year.

The guy was essentially franchised. How long is the cap hit going to be excuse for not keeping up his part of the bargain and phoning it in? Honestly, if his scoring didn't improve a single point, but he checked, and skated, and WORKED consistently, folks would get off his back, but he doesn't. What kind of numbers do people think he would put up if Babcock finally demoted him for his laziness, and his ice time and linemates matched his effort? Hell, he finally got said demotion to the 4th line, in the 3rd period of the elimination game

Do you think any of his less skilled linemates could match his numbers with the increased defensive pressure and ice time?  I understand the desire to put Nyquist up there but there is a difference between being slotted into the first line for a temporary period and doing it consistently over an 82 game season.

40 goals for a $3.9 million cap hit?

Closer to 40 than 25-30 is what I said. And no, closer to 40 than 25-30 for a guy getting paid $5.25 million/season, averaging $3.9 million over the length of 11 seasons. The point of a front loaded contract is to lessen the cap, but that doesn't mean he is expected to only perform his cap hit, otherwise what happens when he declines like he has already been trending to do? If he is worth $3.9 when he is making $5.25, what happens in 2-3 seasons? or 5? or 8?

The guy was essentially franchised. How long is the cap hit going to be excuse for not keeping up his part of the bargain and phoning it in? Honestly, if his scoring didn't improve a single point, but he checked, and skated, and WORKED consistently, folks would get off his back, but he doesn't. What kind of numbers do people think he would put up if Babcock finally demoted him for his laziness, and his ice time and linemates matched his effort? Hell, he finally got said demotion to the 4th line, in the 3rd period of the elimination game

Seeing Franzen in the last few seasons, whether he is drawing the tougher defensive match-up or not thanks to being on a line with Datsyuk, its not like the guy is spending all his time checking and back-checking. In fact, I don't think I've seen him do so in a long time. He floats, offensive zone or defensive zone. He stops doing that and THEN his production, and really, his overall effectiveness will increase.

I agree, he would be great in a complimentary role. Unfortunately, the guy was signed to an 11-year contract expecting him to be closer to 40 goals than 25-30 while continuing to do the things that got him on the team in the first place. He has done neither.

40 goals for a $3.9 million cap hit?

People around are screaming "Rinne won this series"... I don't agree. It is our forward depth that did not exist. This is partially on Kenny (someone like Umberger or Vermette would have been excellent addition) and partially injuries to Helm and Eaves. Our D and G were actually fine. Almost all games were decided by 1 goal and Jimmy didn't let more than 3. For example, the following offense roster would have taken us further to the second round, we didn't simply had good 3rd and 4th lines...

Franzen - Datsuyk - Bertuzzi
Hudler - Zetter - Filppula
Cleary - Vermette - Abdelkader
Holmstrom - Helm - Eaves

(Nyquist)

similarly, you may take out Vermette and put Umberger on the second line instead while delegating Fil to center the third one.

just one trade for semi-good player and absense of injuries. This happens. I'm dissapointed though.

the worst thing is that our leaders are now one year older.

This team is boned.  Holland resigned Bert which was a huge mistake as he has done nothing but that so called fight against Weber.  Franzen is useless and for being this big time playoff guy has done squat in the last 2 playoffs.  If Lids leaves this team becomes seriously mediocre and I doubt Holland will be able to get anyone like Suter or Parise as any FA would obviously see the ship is sinking.  Making the playoffs is meaningless if you just squander you opportunities not only at the end of the regular season but then in the playoffs.  This team needs kids that have passion like many other teams have.  All these old guys they keep resigning will get them no where.

When the Predators scored the first goal tonight I wanted to hang myself for recording this game and staying up late to watch the Wings fail to finish for 2 periods and then hand the Predators the game...again even though I know that is par for the course.